Higgs Searches and Prospects from LEP2

The status of the search at LEP2 for the Higgs in the Standard Model (SM) and in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model MSSM) is reviewed. A preliminary lower limit of 95.5/c^2 at 95% C.L. on the SM Higgs is obtained after a preliminary analysis of the data collected at sqrt(s)= 189 GeV. For standard choices of MSSM parameter sets, the search for the neutral Higgs bosons h and A leads to preliminary 95% C.L. exclusion lower limits of 83.5GeV/c^2 and 84.5 GeV/c^2, respectively.Comment: 6 page

A study of center vortices in SU(2) and SU(3) gauge theories

We show how center vortices and Abelian monopoles both appear as local gauge ambiguities in the Laplacian Center gauge. Numerical results, for SU(2) and SU(3), support the view that the string tension obtained in the center-projected theory matches the full string tension when the continuum limit is taken.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures; talk presented at the International Workshop on Non-Perturbative Methods and Lattice QCD, Guangzhou, May 200

Laplacian Center Vortices

I present a unified picture of center vortices and Abelian monopoles. Both appear as local gauge ambiguities in the Laplacian Center Gauge. This gauge is constructed for a general SU(N) theory. Numerical evidence is presented, for SU(2) and SU(3), that the projected $Z_N$ theory confines with a string tension similar to the non-Abelian one.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures; talk presented at "Confinement 2000", Osaka, March 200

Vector spectrum and color screening in two color QCD at nonzero T and \mu

We discuss a few aspects of the phase diagram of two color lattice QCD: we investigate the long distance screening analyzing the behavior of the interquark potential at large distances; we present a first set of results for vector mesons and diquarks; we note similarities and differences between features at high temperature and high baryon density.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures; talk at the GISELDA Meeting held in Frascati, Italy, 14-18 January 200

When is the deconfinement phase transition universal?

Pure Yang-Mills theory has a finite-temperature phase transition, separating the confined and deconfined bulk phases. Svetitsky and Yaffe conjectured that if this phase transition is of second order, it belongs to the universality class of transitions for particular scalar field theories in one lower dimension. We examine Yang-Mills theory with the symplectic gauge groups Sp(N). We find new evidence supporting the Svetitsky-Yaffe conjecture and make our own conjecture as to which gauge theories have a universal second order deconfinement phase transition.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; Contribution to Confinement 2003, Tokyo, Japan, July 21-24, 200

DInSAR deformation time series for monitoring urban areas: The impact of the second generation SAR systems

We investigate the capability improvement of the DInSAR techniques to map deformation phenomena affecting urban areas, by performing a comparative analysis of the deformation time series retrieved by applying the full resolution Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) DInSAR technique to selected sequences of SAR data acquired by the ENVISAT, RADARSAT-1 and COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) SAR data. The presented study, focused on the city of Napoli (Italy), allows us to quantify the dramatic increase of the DInSAR coherent pixel density achieved by exploiting the high resolution X-Band CSK SAR images with respect to the RADARSAT-1 and ENVISAT products, respectively; this permits us to analyze nearly all the structures located within the investigated urbanized area and, in many cases, also portions of a same building. © 2012 IEEE